The Great Muppet Caper

The Great Muppet Caper 

Universal

June 26, 1981

Children's, Fantasy, Mystery, Musical

DVD
C-

Even at the time, this was a lesser successor to The Muppet Movie (1979).  Watching it now, I winced at some of the jokes and found the songs unmemorable, although the energy is high, and I did like the photo of Kermit and Fozzie's father.  Jim Henson directed and of course voices Kermit and others.

Cromwell

Cromwell
Columbia
16 July 1970
Historical Drama
DVD
D+

Stagy story of Oliver Cromwell during the Civil War, written and directed by Ken Hughes.  This is the sixth Alec Guinness movie I've rejected, but I did go through an "Alec Guinness collection" early on.

Around the World in 80 Days (1956)

Around the World in 80 Days (1956)

Supporting Ebert's rule that no good movie except
The Wizard of Oz features a hot-air balloon.

United Artists
October 17, 1956
Historical Comedy*
DVD
C

I gave this a half hour because I kept thinking that it would, well, go somewhere.  But after about six minutes of Edward R. Murrow doing the prologue, including clips from Méliès's A Trip to the Moon, we get to the actual story but even that takes another twenty minutes or so for set-up.  I still might've stuck it out but the inclusion of buying a not-in-the-book balloon, when one is available for rent, just annoyed me.  So I missed all the cameos that are supposed to be later and am just tagging the people I recognized in the first half hour.  (No, that doesn't include Catinflas.)

S.J. Perelman co-wrote the screenplay.  Michael Anderson directed.


*I guess this could also count as adventure, but I didn't see anything adventurous, or indeed anything that would justify "Todd-A.O.," in the first half hour.

The African Queen

Not 100% accurate

The African Queen
United Artists
March 21, 1952
Historical Drama, Romance
DVD
B

This is set in 1914, at the beginning of World War I and during colonialism, and yet, there's a timeless, even occasionally Edenic quality to this unlikely romance.  (Well, not as unlikely as that movie poster.)  Just as Charlie and Rosie have to go through a lot to fall for each other, this is not a love-at-first-sight movie, and this is maybe my fifth time watching it.  It is a "classic," but not a great movie in my opinion.  Not that there's anything wrong with it; it just doesn't that extra something.  Still, on a blog where it's a small achievement for a movie to get a C, this B is a rare gem. 

Bikel plays the First Officer, while Morley is Hepburn's brother.  John Huston directed and co-wrote the screenplay, based on the C.S. Forester novel.